Instep-arch supporter.



No. 692,338. Patented Feb. 4, I902.

a. n. PHELPS. INSTEP ARCH SUPPORTER.

(Application filed Nov. 28, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STAT S PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE N. PHELPS, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS.

lNSTEP-ARCH SUPPORTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 692,338, dated February 4, 1902.

Application filed November 23, 1901- Seria1No.83,428. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE N. PHELPS, of Brookline, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved instep-Arch Supporter, of which the followin g is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part hereof.

Instep-arch supporters have long been on the market but heretofore they have not been capable of any adjustment except by reshaping the metal stiffening-plate, which was not only a difficult matter, but, in addition, the adjustment was always crude and imperfect.

The object of my invention is to make these supporters so that they may be fitted accurately to feet requiring more or less support under the instep, and my invention is the adjusting-plate described below and its combination with an instep-arch supporter.

Figure 1 is a plan of my instep-arch supporter with its lining omitted. Fig. 2 is a perspective view, ona smaller scale, of one of my supporters. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1 with the lining removed from contact with the adjusting-plate for clearness. Fig. 4 is a section, on a larger scale, through the stiffening-plate and my adjusting-plate on the same line as Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, A is the stifiening-plate, and B the sole-piece, which is attachedto the stiffening-plate, the two together forming an article resembling an inner sole, but with a side extension, so that the supporter extends under the instep of the foot and also under the side of the foot near the instep. The sole-piece B and lining B are secured one to the upper surface and the other to the lower surface of the two plates A and D.

My adj usting-plate D is shaped on its lower surface to fit the continuous surface of the stiffening-plate A, and its upper surface has much the same main curves as the upper surface of plate A, but more pronounced, audits curyllllwoan be made more or less by the screw d and nut d, that fufibeing rigidly connectedwith'the stiffening-plate A, so that the main curves of my arch-supporter can be varied as desired by turning the screw d.

Of course a set of several adjusting-plates may be made for each size of arch-supporter, each plate of that set being graded; but in practice it is rare that the desired adjustment cannot be obtained with one adj usting-plate, and these additional graded adj listing-plates are of infrequent use.

My adj usting-plates are preferably made of sheet-steel, as the initial shape can then be given by molding or swaging; but they may of course be made of other tough sheet materialsuch as hard rubber, celluloid, or leather-for the main novelty of my invention is an instep-arch supporter with two stifiening-plates, one, A, as usual, and the other, D, adjustable on A, so that not only can the supporter be at the start exactly fitted to the foot of the wearer, but, what is even more important, the fit can be varied to suit the wearer after a short use. At present the fit depends wholly upon the curvature of the plate A, and after that plate has been carefully curved to fit it is commonly found'that it must be a1 tered somewhat after it has been used a day or two, when the supporter has to be returned to the dealer and the stiffening-plate recurved to suit the new condition of the foot due to the change in the foot resulting from the use specified.

GEORGE N. PHELPS. Witnesses:

J. E. MAYNADIER, G. A. ROCKWELL. 

